Through Rough Times
by criticalkill
Summary: Happiness is a luxury. It has never been given, it's been earned. There has never been a time when something you love isn't worth fighting for.
1. Chapter 1

_**This is where it all started, the very first thing that I ever wrote. I never did get around to finishing it. Yet somehow I found the time to come back and re-edit it. Maybe that's when everything started falling apart. When I started to think what I was writing was wrong. That time that I realized I was no longer writing for myself. **_

**Chapter 1: What!**

Everything is great, or at least that's what the rest of the Star Fox team thought, and on the outside that's what it looked like to anyone. But the truth was that the brave leader and captain of the famous mercenary team, Fox McCloud, was suffering. It has been two weeks since the defeat of the Anglars and everything seemed perfect, except there was one thing still on the vulpine's mind, Krystal. After everything that was said and everything that happened she had made the decision to come back to the team. And since she returned, Fox thought that he would get the opportunity to make things right with the vixen, but it was made very clear that she didn't want to be a part of the vulpine's life. Every time he would try and start a conversation with her, her face would hold a glare intense enough to make a grown man shutter with fear. And every word directed towards him held a tone that was so hate oriented that you could almost see the malice and venom dripping off of each syllable. He understood why she did all of this, and there was no one else to blame but himself, but the way she acted towards him hurt him like nothing else could. But, he was the leader, the captain, the praised hero of Lylat, so showing his weakness to anyone wasn't an option. So for two weeks he endured the depressing lifestyle, for two weeks he was dead on the inside, for two weeks he wasn't Fox McCloud. But soon, that would all change...

The vulpine's eyes opened to reveal the ceiling in his room aboard the Great Fox II. He lazily rolled over onto his side and set his gaze on his alarm clock to see it reading 5:13.

"Great, just great," slowly he rolled out of bed and padded his way over to his closet and pulled out a plain white t-shirt and a pair of blue jogging pants. After getting dressed he made his way out into one of the many hallways of the Great Fox II.

'_I wish I could find a way to get her to forgive me.'_The vulpine let out another sigh as he made his way down the hallway towards the command room.

_'I love her, I know I do, but I only wish I knew a way to tell her.'_As his thoughts about the vixen ceased he reached over and hit the door release and when the door to the command room opened he was greeted with a site he was not expecting, Krystal.

The vixens back was to him so she had not seen him enter. And thanks to one of Slippy's many upgrades, she did not hear him come in either. Even then Fox couldn't help but take in her beauty.

_'She could have been mine but I had to go and fuck everything up.'_His thoughts were broken by the sound of crying.

Sure enough, his ears were telling him something his eyes could not, Krystal was indeed crying. _'Why is she crying, and what the hell is she doing up at six A.M_.'

Right about the time he was about to call out to her she turned ever so slightly and set what looked like a sheet of paper down onto the captain chair. _'What is that?'_

She reached down and picked-up a duffel bag that was laying against the pivot point of his chair. By now Fox was utterly confused, _'Okay, I have to know what's going on.'_

"Krystal, what are you doing?" Krystal nearly jumped out of her skin when Fox had said something. But once she turned and realized who it was, her facial features softened, which made Fox feel a little better. But as soon as he started to smile her face was replaced with a frown.

"Fox, what are you doing up?" Fox could tell that she had not expected anyone else to be awake.

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought coming up here to think would do me some good, but what are you doing up?" Even after everything that has happened between the two, Fox still cared deeply for the vixen.

"Oh...um well..." To Fox, Krystal seemed as though she didn't want to answer.

"Krystal if something's wrong you can tell me." Fox wanted so desperately for the vixen to open up to him.

Looking into Fox's eyes Krystal knew that all Fox wanted was to see her happy, and that was all she needed to open up to him, "Fox, I'm leaving the team."

Fox's eyes went wide with shock and his reaction came out a little louder than he had expected, "WHAT!" Fox, realizing that he had shouted his question rather than saying it, quickly followed with, "Why? I thought you were happy here?"

"I was Fox, but that's only because every day I got up thinking that today might be the day that you apologize for everything that has happened between us, and maybe we could try and fix things. But so far you haven't even made the smallest attempt at an apology." Krystal was crying even harder than before, and all Fox could do was watch each tear fall to the ground below.

"Krystal I've wanted to apologize to you from day one, but every time I even glanced in your direction I was greeted with a glare. How am I supposed to apologize to someone who won't even so much as give me a chance to tell you that I was wrong?" By now Fox was crying as well. Letting all of the emotion that he had bottled-up over the past two weeks finally come out.

"Fox, do want to know why I was glaring at you for the past two weeks? I was trying to pressure you into talking to me. I thought that if I glared at you long enough you would try and ask me what was wrong, and then maybe we could fix things between us. But that never happened, did it?" Krystal was going from upset to angry rather quickly.

"What do you want me to say Krystal? Do you want me to tell you why I kicked you off the team in the first place? Do want me to tell you why I did what I did? Do you want me to tell you why I've been acting like I have?" Fox was now trying desperately to not mess-up. When Fox kicked Krystal off the team he drove himself into a state of depression. But if she left now by her own will, Fox would probably take the extra step to try and end it all.

"Yes, that is exactly what I want Fox. I want to know the reason for all of your actions. I want to know why you've treated me like you have. I just want to know why." Krystal's voice was much quieter than before, and her tears were starting to cease.

"It's because I...I..." Fox was debating if it would really all be worth it? That and he was afraid she wouldn't feel the same way.

"Fox I thought you were actually going to take this seriously." Krystal was irritated now because of how the vulpine was acting.

"I love you Krystal, I love you. I always have and I always will. Ever since I saw you trapped inside of the crystal atop the Krazoa palace I knew that one day we would be together." Fox's tears were gone and now he was hoping that he had made the right decision. Krystal didn't respond, she just stood there with a wide-eyed look on her face. Fox closed his eyes in defeat, _'dammit, I knew I should have never said anything, I thought that she actually cared about me. When in all reality she...is kissing me!'_

Fox's eyes opened to reveal Krystal with her arms wrapped around his neck and her muzzle pressed tightly against his. He couldn't believe it! Krystal, the girl of his dreams, was standing there with her arms around his neck, locking him in a loving embrace. Once he finally realized that this was _actually_happening, he went ahead and wrapped both of his arms around her waist and pulled her body closer to his. Fox couldn't even describe what he was feeling. He deepened the kiss, relinquishing in the blissful feeling of his and her tongue together. It was as if they were preforming a well-rehearsed dance, never missing a beat and moving perfectly in-line with one another. Each one motivated with the power of love and passion never before experienced by either recipient. After what seemed like an eternity, and much to Fox's dismay, Krystal ended the kiss, but she did so with a smile, which was all Fox needed for an answer.

"I love you too Fox, I love you too."

_**What happened to him? The guy that wrote this out seeing it for how pure he wanted it to be. Before I leave for good I'm going to take one last trip through my past to remind myself of who I used to be. Maybe the secret I've been trying to find will be amongst my past writings. As I read through this I realized why I started in the first place. That happiness at the end of this chapter is what pushed me to start. Just to see that things always will work out in the end is what this site was to me. Maybe that's what I lost sight of?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2, written before I even posted chapter 1. I was so excited when I first started writing that I couldn't even contain it. I didn't have a plan or anything, I just wrote whatever I felt. **_

Chapter 2: A New Morning

The night seemed to fly by for Fox as his eyes opened to reveal an all too familiar ceiling. He couldn't help but smile as he realized for in the first time in weeks he had woken up truly happy.

The previous night after their confessions toward each other she had decided to stay, and wound up sleeping with him(they didn't have sex).He decided he didn't want to wake her so he just enjoyed the warmth and feeling of her body against his.

_'I wonder if she'll be okay with sharing a bed with me every night.' _As soon as he finished his thought her eyelids opened to reveal her sapphire blue eyes. At first her face adopted a look of confusion, but once she realized where she was and who she was with she closed her eyes and nuzzled closer to him.

Fox was the first to break the silence, "That was by far the best sleep I've had in a long time."

Krystal let out a content sigh, "Well then maybe we should share a bed every night."

Fox pretended to think about his answer, "That could be arranged, if you're completely sure about it."

Krystal mimicked Fox as she brought her finger up to her chin and took on a look of deep thought before finally breaking out into a smile, "I couldn't be surer of anything else if I tried."

Fox smiled as well as he got out of bed, "Then in a little bit I'll help you move your thing's into my room."

Krystal mirrored his actions as she too stood up "Okay, but first how about breakfast?"

As if on cue Fox's stomach let out a low gurgle, "Breakfast sounds great. I'll cook, and maybe we can tell the rest of the team about us, sound good?"

"Sounds great, but first I'm going to take a shower." Krystal made her way over to the door and opened it resulting in a quite hiss.

Fox turned to his closet for a fresher set of clothes, "Okay then, I'll see you in a little while."

Just as Krystal was about to leave his room she turned around and with a nice smile added, "I love you."

With his own smile he replied, "I love you too." Then she turned away and made her way to her own room.

After settling on a comfy pair of gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt, Fox entered the hallway and made his way to the ship's kitchen with thoughts about the previous night still fresh in his mind, _'Life is perfect. I finally told Krystal why I kicked her off the team, I told her that I loved her, she forgave me, and she feels the same way, there's nothing that could fuck this up.'_

And with that he made his way into the kitchen. After about ten minutes of trying to decide what to make, he finally settled for a little bit of everything. So he quickly set out on the task to gather-up all of the ingredients needed for the breakfast feast. Moving from fridge to pantry to cupboard to freezer he had finally filled every square inch of the counter with various breakfast items.

Right as he was about to get started with the strenuous task of making the food, his attention was brought to the entry way as the door slid open to reveal a very sleepy looking Falco.

Falco's greeting was very dull, "Hey, you making food?"

"Nah, I'm just putting all the shit out so it can go bad." Fox couldn't help but laugh at his own remark.

Fox's smart ass remark earned him the finger from his feathery friend, "Now's not the time, and what the hell has gotten you in such a good mood?"

With Fox's laughing subsided, he responded to the avian, "Well first off, that wasn't very nice, second, I'll tell you in a little bit, and third, what the hell crawled up your ass?"

Falco's response was a shrug as he pulled a magazine from behind his back. Fox gave Falco an odd look before asking, "Were the hell did you just pull that magazine from?"

Falco didn't even look-up from his reading as he answered the question, "My back pocket."

Fox's face remained the same as he placed several pieces of toast in the toaster(BTW he has been cooking the entire time), "And you keep a magazine in your back pocket why?"

Falco let out a frustrated huff as he pushed himself off the counter, "What is this, twenty questions? I could be doing something more constructive then sitting around letting you interrogate me!"

As Fox was shifting the hash browns around, he reached up and opened the cabinets to his right and said, "Yeah you could, like setting the table for breakfast, get to it."

Falco grumbled to himself as he grabbed an arm full of plates and made his way to the door that connected to the kitchen. But before he walked through he looked back towards Fox, "Hey I forgot to ask, did you talk to Peppy about us getting any more jobs soon?"

Fox shook his head as he kept his gaze on the stove, "No, I was planning on doing that this morning when I woke up, but I think breakfast is more important, don't you?"

"I guess." And with that Falco made his way into the dining area. As soon as that door shut, the other opened to reveal a rather up-beat looking Slippy.

"Hey Fox, you cooking breakfast?" Fox couldn't help but cringe at the sound of the toad's voice, sure it had toned down a little, but it was just too damn early for that.

After recovering Fox answered Slippy's question the same way he answered Falco's, "Not really, I'm cooking it all and throwing it away so it won't go bad."

The sarcasm in Fox's voice was apparent, but for some reason Slippy didn't catch on, "Why the hell would you do that?"

Fox chuckled at how gullible the amphibian was, "Slippy, I was just joking."

Slippy looked down and immediately tried to save himself, "Oh..I knew that."

Fox's response was, "Uh huh, sure it was."

Desperately trying to save himself from further embarrassment Slippy changed the subject, "So, is anyone else up?"

"Falco's in the dining room setting the table and I don't know if Krystal is up or not?" Fox felt bad for lying to Slippy, but what was he going to say? That Krystal's in her room taking a shower that, would just seem weird.

"Okay, I'm going to go help Falco; he probably already messed up somehow." Both of them got a good chuckle from the toad's remark. Just as he was about to open the door, he stopped in his tracks and turned back to Fox, "Hey Fox?"

Upon hearing his name he turned away from the pancakes and looked over to his stubby teammate, "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Fox had never seen Slippy look so concerned other than when he was taking care of a damaged Arwing.

Turning back to the stove Fox replied, "Yeah I'm fine, why do you ask?"

Even though he wasn't looking at him, Fox could tell he was uncomfortable with what he was about to ask, "Well, it's just that you and Krystal haven't been getting along since she joined the team, and not only that but you just seem different. Today was the first time I've seen you smile in about a month, are you sure you're alright?"

Fox let out a sigh as he flipped the bacon onto its raw side, "Slippy thanks for your concern, but I'm fine."

Slippy hit the open button but didn't leave fully, "You sure?"

Fox finally pulled his gaze away from the stove and looked his friend dead in the eye and said, "Completely."

Slippy seemed content with the answer as he finally took the first steps into the dining area, "Okay, if you say so."

As soon as the door shut the other opened to reveal the final member of the team, "So, have you gotten breakfast ready?"

Fox turned off the stove and made his way over to the vixen. Upon reaching her he wrapped his arms around her waist and connected their lips in a brief but passionate kiss. After about two minutes he pulled away just enough to look her in the eyes, "I missed you."

"I missed you too but it's only been like fifteen minutes." Krystal pulled out of Fox's embrace and made her way over to the counter.

"So what, that means I can't miss you in that amount of time." Fox put on a look of mock hurt, "I really thought you cared about me."

Krystal couldn't help but giggle at the vulpine's actions, "I didn't mean it like that, but you still haven't answered my question."

Fox got back into his new normal self as he made his way over to the mounds of food, "Yep, just wait out in the dining room and I'll be out in about three minutes okay?"

Krystal gave him one last kiss as she exited the room. So Fox was left alone to wonder about how he should bring up the recent developments with the team, _'Maybe I should just come out and say it, or would that be to forward? What if they don't like that fact that me and her are together? I guess neither of those things matter as long as I have Krystal by my side."_

As Fox made his way into the dining room the sound of arguing instantly fill the air, "Falco you are such a prick, why are you always picking on me?"

"Because Slippy it's just way to damn easy." Fox had no idea what they were arguing about but from the sound of it Falco was the cause.

"Come on you guys don't argue, this is not what the team needs right now." Krystal was trying to be the voice of reason to the two but she didn't make any progress.

Falco turned his attention to the vixen, "Krystal stay out of this, if tubby over here has something to say let him say it."

Slippy was absolutely furious with the avian, "If you don't shut up right now I swear I'll...I'll..."

"You'll what Slippy, beat me up, tell on me to Fox, what the fuck could you honestly do to me?" Falco didn't seem fazed at all by Slippy's unfinished threat.

"Guys seriously, I think you two should quite it." Krystal was the only one aware of Fox's presence in the room.

"Krystal, I don't even know why Fox let you back on the team. You're nothing but a traitorous, back-stabbing, good-for-nothing, two-bit whore!" Falco was right in the vixen's face, unaware of the impending doom standing eight feet behind him.

Fox had to use every fiber in his being to not run up and tear Falco to shreds, so instead he made his response verbal, "ALL OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Instantly all three pairs of eyes were on him, and all three were wide open, "NOW ALL OF YOU SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"

Without a second of hesitation they did as they were told, and as they did Fox set out all of the food. And silently, one by one, they served themselves some food. For the first ten minutes no one looked-up from their plates, because Fox's look would make the toughest person in the universe shutter with fear, and probably piss themselves. Finally Krystal made eye contact with the vulpine, and slowly but surely, Fox reverted back to his normal self.

And with a nod from Krystal, Fox knew it was time, "Guys, I have something to tell you." within seconds all eyes were him, _'Well, here goes nothing...'_

_**The first time I ever left a story off with a cliffhanger. I wanted to leave it off so that I could maybe draw people in the lookout for the next chapter. Back then getting one review, even if it was two words meant the world to that excited new author. As I wrote and read I realized that a review is everything on this site. I don't know where that writing spirit went, but maybe I'll find it along the way.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Original author post:**_

_**Criticalkill here with the third chapter of "The Beginning," and I think that it's coming along great. Listen, I kind of skip over the part where they tell them and skip right to the discussion after words. So I hope I made the right decision, anyway here goes the next chapter from yours truly Criticalkill.**_

_**That's what I originally said when this was posted. I sounded so proud of what I created. I felt like I was a little kid that painted his first "masterpiece" and thought that it was so good I put it on the fridge for everyone to see. That's something I lost along the way, my carefree attitude.**_

**Chapter 3: It's out in the open**

"Wait so you're telling me that you and her are together?"

"Yes Falco that's what I just said."

"So when exactly did you two get together?"

"Well Slippy, me and him actually got together last night, when I tried to leave Star Fox."

"You tried to leave the team?" Both Falco and Slippy were in shock.

"Yes she did, but I convinced her to stay by telling her how I feel towards her."

"Well I knew you two would get together eventually, I'm just glad it finally happened," the falcon put on a smile as he rose from the table.

"Yeah so am I," Slippy's face also adopted a smile as he rose from the table to join Falco.

"Well I'm just glad that you two don't really care."

"Why would we Fox?"

"I don't know Slippy, I was just nervous is all."

"Oh, well if you don't mind I'm going to go work on the Arwings, see you all later."

"Yeah and I'm going to go train for a little bit, see you guy's in a little bit."

"See you guys later."

After Slippy and Falco left to go continue out their day Fox turned towards Krystal and quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a passionate kiss, which of course she didn't shy away from. After a few minutes Fox finally pulled away so he could look her in the eyes to talk, "Well then, that went over better than I thought."

"Yeah I could feel the nervousness emanating from your mind, what did you think would happen?"

"I was afraid that they would disagree with the fact that you and me are together."

"Why would you think that they wouldn't agree?"

"I don't know, I was just rushing to conclusions."

"Well, now do you feel better?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'm glad you do, now if you excuse me I'm going to go get changed."

She gave him one last brief kiss before heading towards here room. '_Well at least I got that out of the way, I guess I should change as well.'_And with that the love drunk vulpine made his way towards his room.

-15 minutes later-

"Well I guess I'll train for a little while," Fox thought out loud as he made his way towards the gym clad in black shorts and an all-white muscle shirt. As he rounded the corner and walked through the automated door that leads to the training area, he saw both Falco and Krystal working out. Falco was training against a combat drone and Krystal was running on a treadmill with a headphone in each ear.

'_Well it's good to see everything is back to normal.'_Fox thought as he made his way over to the weight lifting area. He glanced over to see Falco take a fierce roundhouse to the side which sent him out of the ring, which in turn shut down the simulation.

"Falco you're supposed to dodge the hit, not take it."

Falco looked up to see his leader and best friend making his way towards the weight lifting area with a big grin on his face, so the avian just rolled his eyes at the vulpine's comment. "Thanks for the tip Fox; I'll keep that in mind."

"No problem, I always like to help where I can."

Falco again rolled his eyes and started the combat drone back up to try to take it down again.

Meanwhile Krystal heard some noises and decided to see what it was, only to be greeted with Falco lying on the ground and Fox making his way over to the weight area. So she turned off the treadmill and her mp3 player and jogged up behind Fox to see what he was doing.

"Hey Fox, whatch'ya doing?"

Fox jumped a little because he didn't know Krystal was behind him but immediately calmed backed down once he saw who it was. "Oh hey Krystal, I'm just gonna lift some weights for a while."

"Okay, do you need a spot?"

"Yeah I could use a spotter, if you want to that is?"

"I would be more than willing to help."

They both made their way to an empty bench before Fox added a 45, two 25's, two10's, and two 5 pound plates to each side. Seeing this she totaled the weight up to 295lbs. Fox got onto the bench and without hesitation lifted the bar out of the holder and brought it all the way down before practically throwing the bar back up.

"Wow, Fox I never knew you were that strong," the astonished vixen just stared at her leader as he practically toyed with 295lbs.

Fox couldn't help but chuckle at the vixen as her eyes were wide open and her mouth hung agape, "What you thought I was weak or something?"

"No, it's just that I didn't think that you could just toy with that much weight!" It was at that moment that she took the time to look over her leader and new found lover. She first went to his arms which after seeing them she could easily understand how he could bench that much. Then she went lower, a little disappointed that he was wearing a shirt, until she hit his legs, which were in the same condition as his arms. But before she could snap out of her dream state the male counterpart of the two finished his rep and sat up turning towards the vixen, only to notice she was staring at him.

So he decided it was time to bring her back to reality, "Are you checking me out?"

Krystal quickly looked away towards the ground as a crimson wave of color washed over her face. "Sorry Fox I didn't mean to stare."

"As if I care, I mean it's not like I'm angry with you or anything, and I kinda like the attention." He decided it was time to get even as he scanned every inch of her body with his eyes, going from her shapely legs, to her slender waist, then to her chest.

Krystal of course by this time knew exactly what the vulpine was doing so she decided to tease him a little by dropping her mp3 player on the ground, "Oh, whoops, my bad." She slowly bent over to pick up, which left her ass Exposed to Fox.

_'Oh my god, every inch of her body is perfect, mm hmm give me a piece of that.'_What the vulpine didn't know is that at that moment she was in his mind reading his thoughts. She was surprised that he would already think like that, but what he thought next surprised her even more. '_What am I doing, I shouldn't be thinking like that, I just told her how I felt last night, it will be awhile before we have sex.'_

That warmed the vixens heart, of all the guys she met almost all of them thought about her in perverted ways, but never Fox. So without warning she stood up, walked towards Fox, and brought him into a very passionate kiss. Fox was a little shocked but quickly dismissed it.

After a few minutes Krystal finally pulled away only to bring Fox into a warm embrace, which Fox kindly returned, but his curiosity as to why Krystal was doing this got the best of him, "Um Krystal, what exactly was that for?"

"For being the sweetest person in all of Lylat."

**Original Post:**

_**Well here it is chapter three, and to be honest, I actually got this done before I posted chapter 2, crazy huh? Anyways, before I started this I had serious writers block on how to start the chapter, and I think it turned out great, what about you? Anyways, the reviews are needed, and I'd like to know how you think I'm doing for a first time writer, so that's all for this chapter, form Criticalkill, goodnight**_

_**Listen to me; I literally couldn't wait to work on my story. When I wrote this chapter I wanted you to see the purity in their love. I wanted to show that their love wasn't purely materialistic. As I went along I never knew what each chapter would hold, but I somehow knew that it would all work out in the end. I've lost that as well, I've lost my optimism. I always criticize myself in a terrible way. People say that change is necessary, but is it wanted?**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**It's funny, after all this time I still got that one review that told me I was wrong about the weight that Fox lifted. Just to clear up any confusion the average bench bar weighs 45 pounds. When this chapter was written I just wanted to try and make the team seem like it was an average day. Maybe I was just trying to get a more in depth look into my own story. This chapter was not what I had in mind when I first wrote it.**_

**Chapter 4: Realization**

The rest of the day went by rather quickly for the Star Fox team as each did various activities around the Great Fox. Slippy hadn't been seen since breakfast because he was held up in the hangar thinking of ways to improve their Arwings anymore than they already were. Slippy was by far the best mechanic in all of Lylat. He could take a completely destroyed Arwing and have it fixed in a day. He was by far the best engineer Fox had ever seen.

Falco had spent the entire day either in the gym, or at the firing range, or in a simulator. Falco wasn't the best fighter or shot in the Star Fox team, he only placed second in both categories. Fox was by far the best shot aboard the Great Fox, and as for the best fighter, it was a tie between Fox and Krystal. Fox by far was the strongest, but Krystal had the best technique. Falco was always competing with Fox for the best pilot spot though. But Falco, being the competitive person he is, was always trying to out best everyone on the ship, except for Slippy that is.

Fox and Krystal had spent the entire day together do various things, whether it was training, working out, or just sitting on the couch, they were next to each other. Fox was content on just hanging out with Krystal, that is until he realized there was something he still had to do. Looking up he noticed it was already 5:43 PM, "Hey Krystal I almost forgot, there's still something we have to do today."

The vixen looked up from her spot in his lap and gave a curious look, "Really? And what would that be Fox?"

The vulpine motioned for her to sit up as he stood, "We have to move your stuff into to my room. That is if you still want to share a room?"

A smile spread across her face as she remembered the conversation that they had, "Of course I still want to share a room with you Fox."

Fox held out his paw as a gesture to help her up, "Then I suggest we start moving your stuff into my room then."

She accepted his help but decided against letting go, "Okay, let's get started." And with that the couple made their way to Krystal's room so they could collect everything she was taking.

Once inside of Krystal's room, Fox was a little taken back by the vast amount of stuff Krystal had in her room. She had what looked like a time-line or a vault of items spread around her room. The things seemed to range from their first mission together, to the last mission they had done. Fox would have just stood there if curiosity had not gotten the better of him,"Hey Krystal, when did you have time to collect all this stuff?"

Krystal stopped collecting clothes from her dresser and directed her attention on the vulpine in the center of the room, "Well, any mission we went on, I would look for something small that I could take back as a souvenir."

Fox didn't quite understand, "Why exactly did you go through trouble of looking for the right item to take?"

Krystal was trying to think of the right way to piece together her reason for collecting these various items and objects and came up with, "Well... I didn't ever want to forget this team Fox, because this team is my family."

Fox was a little confused_,_"Krystal, if you love this team so much, then why would you try and leave?"

"Because I was afraid that you didn't love me, and I couldn't stand to be on the same team with the person I love if they didn't love me back." By this time of the conversation tears had started to form in the vixens eyes.

Of course this didn't go unnoticed, "Hey, don't cry, it's okay."

Krystal was ashamed of herself; she quickly shut her eyes and faced towards the floor. "I'm sorry"

Fox couldn't stand to see Krystal like this, after all it was pretty much his fault, "Krystal, everything's fine now, please stop crying." He gently lifted her face towards his. In doing so she opened her eyes to reveal her sapphire blue eyes still welled up.

He gently wiped away her tears before bringing her head into his chest and whispering into her ear, "Krystal, I love you, and I promise I will never let anything bad happen to you again."

Krystal finally brought her head off of Fox's chest, and almost instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his. Fox responded by snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

After about ten minutes Fox finally pulled away, "Fell any better?"

Krystal couldn't help but giggle, "I feel much better, thank you Fox."

"No problem, now how about we start moving your things into my room?"

Krystal, yet again, couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Yeah, I guess you're right, we should get started if we ever hope on getting finished tonight."

Fox and Krystal then started to dismantle Krystal's old room from top to bottom. Fox found it to be quite enjoyable. Not only did he get to spend time with Krystal, but at the same time he found out a lot about her as well. What he really thought was cool that they shared a lot of the same tastes.

They shared the same liking in music, as he had been handed a lot of CD's that he already owned, but thought it was best not to mention it right now. They also shared the same taste in movies, as she also had a lot of the same DVD's as he did. After finally packing everything from her room into bags, boxes, and suitcases, they finally started to move everything into his room.

As they were making their way down the hallway towards his room they ran into Falco, and he did not seem happy. Fox gave Falco a flustered look, "Hey Falco, everything all right?"

The question seemed to infuriate the avian even more so, "No Fox everything is just fine, it's not like I was expecting anything to eat today, so I guess everything is just fucking fine!"

Both foxes were a taken back by the bird's outburst, until Fox thought of something. Quickly he set everything he was carrying down and looked at his wrist gauntlet, it read 9:51, "Oh shit, Falco I'm sorry about dinner, I kinda lost track of time."

Falco seemed to be much calmer than he was a minute ago, but not because of his captains words, but rather he seemed more interested in the boxes, "Hey no problem, but... what is all this stuff?"

Fox couldn't help but laughed and facepalm as he recalled that he yet to tell anybody what he was doing today, "Sorry but I forgot to tell you and Slippy that Krystal is moving into my room with me, and that's why I lost track of time."

Falco couldn't help but let a large grin appear on his face as he was coming up with a smart ass come back, "Oh it's alright...so you're moving into Fox's room with him right?"

Both Krystal and Fox traded nervous glances as they started to form together the birds motive, "Yes... I'm moving into his room with him."

Falco couldn't help but let his grin get bigger as he thought of the perfect comeback, "Okay, and why would that be exactly?"

Both of the foxes seemed to glow red with embarrassment as they had finally pieced together what their avian teammate was getting at, "Falco, that's not why she's moving in with me."

Falco just turned and nonchalantly walked away before adding, "Sure it isn't, just be sure to keep it down tonight because other people are trying to sleep okay?"

Both of them just stood there, completely stunned by their teammates remark. But the silence was soon broken by a certain falcon's uncontrollable laughter.

Fox was the first to come back to reality as he knelt down to pick up the things he had previously set down, "Well then... that was...uh...a little embarrassing."

His remark finally brought the vixen back to the present, "Yeah...that was... a little bad." She followed in his steps and picked up her things and made their way to his room.

They started to unpack all of Krystal's belongings and put them in the correct spot, which Krystal was a little surprised to see that Fox had a lot of the same things she did, "Well Fox, I'm glad that your room is big enough to hold all of your and my things."

Fox put what seemed to be a stack of clothes in one of the many shelves among the closet, "Well I'm just glad that you're not one of those girls who has 10,000 pairs of shoes."

Krystal stopped to look at him to see he had a giant grin on his face so she playfully hit him on the back of the head, "Smart ass."

Then see noticed that when he was putting her clothes away in the closet, he was also taking all of his clothes out and setting them on the bed. "Fox, are you giving me the entire closet?"

Fox stopped what he was doing and turned to the vixen, giving her a smile before replying, "Yeah, well you have more clothes than I do, and the closet is bigger than the dresser so I thought that you could take it."

Krystal gave him a big smile before thanking him, "Fox that's so kind of you."

"Don't mention it, you deserve the best." Then he turned around and finished putting her clothes away.

Finally they had gotten everything into a fitting spot in his room before Fox decided to check what time it was. He glanced over to see that his alarm clock on his night stand read 10:29. "Well it looks like it's about time to dismiss the team for the night."

Krystal's eyes went wide with surprise, "Wow, I can't believe that it's already that late, it doesn't seem like it took that long."

Fox started out of the room, "I know, but time fly's when you're having fun." And with that the vulpine made his way to the command room with Krystal following close behind.

They entered through the large automatic doors to the right of the room only to be greeted with the rest of the team both looking tired and relieved. "Hey Fox, good news, I finally got a way to increase the shield power of the Arwings."

"Slippy that's great, you are really one hell of a mechanic. Anyways, Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, Krystal, you are all relieved of your duties for the day." Both of the worn out teammates let out a sigh of relief as they made their way to their designated rooms.

Fox turned towards the main console on the bridge and started punching in commands, "Well then I think it's time to head in as well."

"Fox, I couldn't agree with you more." As soon as the words left her mouth she started to yawn.

"Well then why don't you head off bed and I'll be in in a minute, okay."

Krystal turned around and opened the main doors, "Okay Fox." And with that the vixen made her way to the vulpine's room.

After Fox finished shutting down the unneeded functions of the ship for at night, he too made his way to his room. '_Ah, today was a good day.'_Fox let out a sigh of relief as he made his way into his room, but he suddenly got afraid. Krystal wasn't in his room, but his terrified thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. He turned to the source of the noise only to be greeted by a certain blue vixen dressed in a short, snow white nightgown.

"Krystal, you…you look amazing!" The nightdress hung roughly 5 inches above her knee which showed off quite a bit of her legs, but it also stopped right above her chest, which in turn, also showed Fox quite a bit of cleavage.

Fox was finally brought out of his trance by the vixens words, "Why thank you Fox, but I'm sure you can't be comfortable in that?"

Fox quickly looked down at his own attire, noticing that he was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a custom red Star Fox logo in the bottom left corner. "Maybe you should go get changed."

"Maybe," was the all the vulpine could say before he walked over to his dresser, took out an article of clothing, and vanished into the bathroom. About a minute later he walked out dresses in only a pair of dark red pajama pants.

Krystal finally got a chance to see Fox's upper torso and couldn't help but stare. Fox was fit, and she took the time to look him over. She went from his six-pack, to his pecks, and finished off with his arm's again. And Fox couldn't help but chuckle at the vixen, "Your checking me out again aren't you?"

Krystal snapped out of her day dream. But this time she was ready with her answer, "So what if I was?"

Fox was a little off guard but quickly thought of a comeback, "I'm just glad you like what you see, but I think it's time for bed."

As I on cue, Krystal let another yawn escape her muzzle before replying, "Yeah I guess you're right."

They both made their way over to the king sized bed, which had deep, oceanic, blue sheets on it. It also had four pillows, each fitted with deep blue pillow covers. Krystal slid in between the covers and waited for Fox to join her, but for some reason he was a little nervous. Krystal found that to be strange, "Fox what's wrong, it's not like we haven't done this before."

Fox quickly snapped out of his nervous state and joined her in the bed. As soon as was on the bed she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. In return he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Before he fell asleep, he brought his lips to hers and brought her into a passionate kiss goodnight. "I love you Krystal."

She was completely at peace, but she had to reply, "I love you too Fox."

After about ten minutes the male of the two fell asleep, with the girl of his dreams in his arm's. But Krystal for some reason couldn't sleep. She knew it didn't have anything to do with Fox, but rather herself. And it wasn't because she was unhappy with the fact that she was with Fox, but rather that she tried to leave all of this behind.

_'What was I thinking; I should have never tried to leave. This is where I belong. With this team, with my family, and with Fox.'_It was at that moment that she finally drifted off to sleep, it was after all this time that she realized where she belonged. It was after she had drifted off to sleep next to Fox that she began to realize, this was her mate.

_**I never understood what I had hoped to accomplish with this chapter. And reading back on it now it all seems so normal. Just an average day on the team. Maybe I wanted to broaden how I envisioned the team. Still unsure. Two more chapters that I have saved and then that's it. I'm pretty sure the next one liven things up a bit.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**As I came to this chapter I realized I needed a plot twist. I never wanted my story to be short so I tried my hardest to lengthen it. At first I intended something none violent to come up, but at last my amateur self took over and a fight played out in my mind and then was drafted to my story.**_

**Chapter 5: A Rough Day**

The previous had been an overall good day for the Star Fox team. All of the team members had gained something in that short day. Slippy had found a good way to increase the overall statistics of the Arwings, whether it was shield power, fire power, or speed, he had found a way to make them better.

Falco spent the day honing his skills, in piloting, fighting, and shooting. He made sure he would be ready for the next problem the team faced, and maybe then he would be seen as much of a hero as Fox, after all Falco was very competitive.

Fox and Krystal had gained each other, something they had been longing since the first day they met. They both seemed more at peace throughout the day, and they seemed more mature. They were happier than they have ever been before, and the rest of the team didn't care.

The team seemed more capable then they have been in a long time, they seemed like they were more intertwined, or more in sync. But whatever it really was they were sure that they were strong as a team. But what they didn't know is that their strength as a team was about to be tested...

Fox's eyelids opened to reveal the interior of his room, and an all too familiar presence next to him. He turned his head to his right to reveal Krystal lying next to him, and to say the least, she looked happy. _'The entire team seems to be more at ease now, and it was just yesterday that I told the team about me and Krystal.'_Fox let out a happy sigh as he closed his eyes wanting to wait until Krystal awoke so he wouldn't have to disturb her slumber, but after 10 minutes of lying in bed, He decided he would try to get up without waking her.

He quickly slid out of her grasp and quickly looked back to make sure he didn't wake her, and to his surprise, it seemed like she didn't even notice a change in the bed. He bent over and gently kissed her on the forehead before heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

Krystal opened her eyes but quickly shut them due to the fact that the lights were on in the room. With her eyes shut she searched the bed with her arm's looking for Fox, but to her disappointment, he wasn't there. Her ear's perked up due to the sound of the shower running, and then a smile spread across her muzzle once she realized that he was just in the shower.

So she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched her arm's high above her head, then stood up and padded her way over to the closet. She pulled out a simple all black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans; she quickly got dressed and made her way over to the couch.

She turned on the T.V. and just waited for Fox to get done in the bathroom. Two minutes later Krystal heard the shower stop running so she turned off the T.V., and just as she stood up the door to the bathroom opened to reveal Fox, clad in nothing but a pair of boxers. He was a little surprised to see Krystal already awake but other than that, didn't really seem to care.

"Hey Krystal, glad to see your finally awake." He turned and walked over to the dresser on the opposite side of the room, opened up the third drawer and pulled out a pair of black jeans and quickly put those on, then he opened up the second drawer and pulled out a simple white t-shirt, and a pair of socks.

Krystal stood up and made her way over towards the bathroom but made sure it was alright. "Fox if you don't mind I'm gonna take a shower."

"Okay Krystal go ahead, I don't need to be in there anymore."

She made her way over to the bathroom and gently shut the door behind her; Fox then got up from his position from the bed and made his way over to the couch. He just sat there for a minute with the only noise being heard was the running of the shower in the bathroom. _'Toady is perfect; I don't think anything can mess this up.'_After his short thinking process, Fox turned on the T.V. and waited for Krystal to join him.

Roughly 20 minutes later Krystal came out dressed in the same outfit she had just changed into, but it looked like she had also put on some of her jewelry and a little bit of make-up. She made her way over to the couch to see Fox sitting against one corner in an upright position with his legs taking up the rest of the room on the couch.

Krystal just stood there waiting for Fox to move his legs but instead he looked at her and asked her an all to obvious question, "Well, are you going to join me?"

She finally realized what he meant as she crawled on top of him and rested her head in the crook of his neck. In return he wrapped one of his arms around her stomach and pulled her closer, just as they were about to get comfortable, ROB sent a warning across the ships PA system, "Warning four unidentified ships heading in trajectory with the Great Fox."

Both Fox and Krystal jumped to their feet and bolted for the command room. On their way there they met up with the other members of Star Fox. The entire team made their way to the command room, and once passing through the doors, Fox immediately took control, "ROB what's the identification of the four unknown ships?"

ROB gave them slightly bad news, "The four ships are all Wolfen class ships, one belonging to Wolf O'Donnell, one belonging to Panther Caroso, one belonging to Leon Powalski, and one belonging to an unknown pilot."

A low growl escaped Fox's throat as he addressed his team, "Looks like Star Wolf found themselves a new team mate, and let's hope he isn't a very good pilot." He turned away from his team and turned towards the main screen to see the position of the fighters. "Alright team here's the plan, we will go out and meet them here, if anyone gets to damaged fall back to the Great Fox, they won't try to attack this ship in a Wolfen I'm sure, if they start to retreat fall back, any questions?" His team just stood there and gave him assuring nods, "Alright, team Star Fox, move out."

And with that the highly trained pilots made their way towards the hangar to confront their longtime rivals. They all hoped it to their according ships, fired up their engines, and blasted out of the hangar in formation. They approached the combat zone to see the four Wolfens making their way towards them. There was a long silence as both ships stopped less than a hundred yards away from each other.

Krystal and Slippy were worried, most of the time they just ganged up on Panther because neither of them were aces like Fox and Falco. Krystal switched over to a private channel with Fox, "Fox, I'm not sure I can do this."

Fox wasn't quite sure how to react, "Krystal...I...I don't understand?"

It took a minute, but Krystal sucked up her pride, after all if she couldn't tell Fox, then she couldn't tell anyone, "I'm scared of this battle."

Fox went through all of the possible reasons as to why she would be scared. At first he thought that it was just Star Wolf but quickly shot down that thought because they had faced Star Wolf many times in the past. Then he thought that it was because she hadn't flown in a while, but again shot down that idea. He tried to think of any way that this fight was some much different, then it hit him, the new pilot. She had never tried to take on Panther by herself, "Krystal don't worry, I know that you haven't ever taken on Panther alone, but don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

Krystal instantly felt better about the situation, now she didn't have to worry about being shot down by the pathetic jungle cat because Fox wouldn't let that happen "Thank you Fox and I love you."

"I love you too." The vulpine turned his attention back to the battle. He turned off his private channel and opened an open channel to talk towards his rivals. Fox let a low growl escape his muzzle before he spoke out harshly towards the enemy leader. "What do you want O'Donnell?"

There was a short silence but the leader of the rival team finally spoke up, "What? I can't visit an old friend?"

His comment only made Fox angrier, "First, we are not friends, second, I'll ask you again what do you want, and finally, whose the new guy?"

Wolf let a small chuckle go through the com-link before answering the vulpine, "McCloud you are one stubborn bastard, but I'll answer your questions. First of all I wanted to settle this once and for all, second, this is our new engineer, his name's Kleave (it's pronounced kl and ev)."

"Well Wolf I don't think that your new pilot will make a difference, so let's get this started!"

And with that the battle ensued. Fox and Wolf immediately got into a one-on-one dog fight, while Falco took on Leon, Krystal took on Panther, and Slippy took on Kleave. At fight at first looked like a standstill, but then slowly but surely, the battle tipped in Star Fox's favor. All the pilots were evenly matched, even Slippy and Kleave, but then suddenly the scale tipped greatly in Star Fox's favor, as Slippy made contact with Kleave's ship, but not with his laser's, but instead with a nova bomb, completely disintegrating the poor engineer's ship.

Almost everybody was completely astonished that Slippy had managed take out the enemy's ship so easily, even Slippy was surprised. Even Wolf was shocked, after all the years and after all the dogfights, someone from one of the team's dies in battle. Fox could only let an chuckle escape his mouth as he taunted his opponent, "Well Wolf looks like your new pilot didn't make a difference."

Wolf had to make a hard decision; he was out numbered and out gunned. "Panther, Leon, let's head back to base." There was no question in either of the two pilots as they made their way back to Sargasso. Wolf turned his attention back to the vulpine in front of him, "This isn't over McCloud!"

Fox just turned his ship back towards the Great Fox as he replied back to his old nemesis, "I know it isn't Wolf, it will never be the end." And with that his team made its way back to the Great Fox. All of their ships had taken damage, some more than others. Fox's and Falco's ships were in pretty good condition due to the fact that they are the best pilot's amongst the team. Slippy's ship was in decent condition due to the fact that he took out his opponent the fastest. Krystal's ship surprisingly had the most damage done to it. The team took their places amongst the Great Fox hangar as they exited their ships. Falco and Slippy meet in the middle of the hangar waiting for Fox and Krystal to make their way out of their ships.

Krystal was the first of the two out of the ships, but something seemed off, Fox wasn't getting out of his ship. Fox was in his Arwing, looking over the wound he had acquired. The blaster wound was large, arguably the largest one he had sustained in all of his years of combat. The wound was roughly one or two inches below the right half of his rib cage. He had lost a reasonable amount of blood already, and probably would've blacked out if it wasn't for the adrenaline coursing through his body, which was also the reason he didn't notice it until he got back to his ship. The wound crippled his ability to jump out of his Arwing, so he just sat there with the canopy open.

The rest of the team was starting to get worried, they weren't sure what was wrong, Fox was the best pilot amongst them and could surely handle himself against Star Wolf right.

Falco's expression only deepened as he called out for his captain, "Fox...are…are you okay?" No answer. Falco started to worry, he sprinted toward the grounded Arwing and leaped up onto the wing and peered into to the canopy only to have his worse fear become reality. His captain, his best friend, and his team mate, lay in his Arwing with a mortal wound, and a large amount of blood soaking into the cockpit. He needed help, "Guys, get over here!"

Within a second Krystal and Slippy were helping Falco bring their captain towards the medical wing of the Great Fox. "Come on Fox stay with us we're almost there!" The vulpine heard the words of his best friend as he was being dragged down one of the many hallways of the Great Fox, before another voice was heard.

"Fox, please stay with us, I can't lose you!" It was Krystal. Endless amounts of tears were making their way down the vixen's face as the love of her life was being carried down a corridor of the Great Fox with a lethal shot delivered to his torso.

He was slipping out of consciousness as he tried to fight the blackness. _'I need to hang on, for the team, for myself, for Krystal.'_But he was fighting a losing war as they made their way through the doors of the medical wing. He was set down on one of the many tables amongst the room, but he could feel it, death was consuming him. There was no use, he couldn't fight it. The last thing he heard was Krystal's voice speaking to him, "Fox please, please stay with us, I can't los-" That was the last thing he heard as a shroud of blackness consumed him...

_**This is when I started to really hammer people with my cliffhangers. My detail wasn't all there and it still isn't. I'm not sure how I had ever been that lenient. If this was a revise I would have gone back and changed this for what would have been the third time. One more chapter and then it's done, my first story relived to help me figure out my place.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**This is it, the last chapter that I had written for this story. I guess it was the cliffhanger that left even me in suspense. I don't know why my drive to finish it faded but I just couldn't find that push to get me typing. So this is it, the last chapter that this story had. Maybe one day I'll look back and find the perfect inspiration to finish it, but for now it lays dormant.**_

**Chapter six: Fear**

Fear, the emotion that makes rational people do irrational things. The emotion that trumps all the others, the emotion that can make and break a man. An emotion strong enough to turn the most down-to-earth person, insane with a contorted mind. The one emotion strong enough to make a tough and experienced pilot pace the floor with anticipation. The emotion that can cause an engineer to sit in a blank waiting room with the worst possible conclusion running through his mind. The emotion that can cause a certain team mate to wait while endless amounts of tears silently run down her face and to the cold, hard, floor below. This is the emotion that can cripple someone's capabilities. This is the emotion that is running through all of the Star Fox team's minds. This is the emotion that can destroy someone. This is the emotion of fear...

After the team had gotten Fox to the medical wing ROB immediately went to work on the vulpine. He ran IVs filled with both blood and painkillers from the stand off to the right of the operating table down to the fox's right arm. Trays filled with surgical equipment and assorted liquids were spread out amongst the room. Time had seemed to slow down as their captain was being operated on, and this hadn't gone unnoticed.

"How long has it been since he started?" Falco had never been the patient type, and this was no exception, but he would never leave his friend's side.

"About th…th…three hour's." The small toad let out a shaky breathe as he feared for his captain and best friend.

They were all on the brink of utter devastation. If anything said that Fox wasn't going to pull through then that would be it. Every member of the team and most of Lylat would be in shambles. The greatest pilot and hero ever would be gone, no one to fill his place. But that was the farthest thing from everyone's mind at the moment.

"Slippy it's okay, I've seen McCloud take worst and come out kicking." Falco had a point, this wasn't the worst thing that has ever happened to the pilot, but it doesn't mean that they still shouldn't be worried about it.

Everyone in the room was upset, fearful, depressed, and destroyed. But they haven't even heard the outcome of their captain, and some people were taking it worse than others.

"Krystal are you alright, you haven't said a thing since this happened?" The avian was worried, if Fox didn't make, he would have no idea how she would handle it.

"Yeah I'm f...fine." She lied. As much as it pained her to lie to them she had to. She didn't want them to worry about her. But she didn't know how she would live without Fox, her hero, her friend, and now her lover. She probably would not be able to live in a world without him, as crazy as it seemed she would die from depression.

"Are you sure, you seem more distraught then you should be?" She knew where Falco was going with this and that she could trust them both, but it isn't like it would make a difference.

"I'm just afraid of what might happen is all." Falco knew that there was more to the story than that, and he intended to find out what.

"Well so are me and Slippy but you don't see us thinking of the worst possible outcome. No, you have to stay optimistic about this." He tried to cheer her up, but to no avail.

"It's not the same Falco. To you and Slippy he's your best friend, but to me he's much more than that." She tried to explain to them why but they just didn't seem to grasp the concept.

"Look I know you care about him, but me and Slippy do too. To us he's family." He knew that she was with him but beyond that he came up with nothing as to why he meant more to her than he did them.

"I know that, but to me he's my hero. And not only that but I love him, and I couldn't imagine a world without him." The conversation had finally reached a standstill. Nobody in the room could find the right words to keep the conversation going, so they remained silent. Waiting for the answers to come. The only noise made in the room was the constant ticking of the wall clock.

But Falco couldn't stand to see a fellow team mate in that condition, and he had to try and cheer her up, "Krystal, I know how much you love Fox, but sitting here thinking about the worst possible outcome won't help the situation. You have to think positive, and no matter what happens, we _will_pull through as a team, I promise you that much."

The vixen seemed to calm down after the avian's words and then she knew everything would work, it had to, "Thank you Falco, I needed that."

"Don't mention it. After all, we are a team." The falcon put on a small smile but it quickly faded after he came back to the matter at hand.

Not a moment later did ROB come rolling into the waiting room. All the eyes were averted to the mechanical invention as they awaited the verdict of their captain.

Whenever there is a important moment in history, time finds a way to halt any further progression, thus resulting in the effect of time standing still. The Star Fox team was going through that very process now, awaiting ROB to tell them the status on their captain.

"Star Fox team, the operation on one Fox McCloud has been completed and the outcome of the patient's health was..."

The room was silent. The anticipation of the robots next words were eating away at the team. Slippy was about ready to have a heart attack. Falco was either ready to jump for joy or jump in his Arwing and get revenge on Star Wolf. Krystal was ready to either cry tears of sorrow or tears of joy. But whatever the verdict was the team was ready for the answer. They were ready for what their lives would be like. Good or bad they were ready for the answer. But there was still something wandering in the back of all their minds. Something that didn't want to hear the answer. Something that would absolutely devastate all of them. Something that could, and would, destroy the team. That something, was fear...

_**Well, that was the cliffhanger that left this story at the end. In a readers mind this left them wondering on some many levels. I could never decide how this would all continue out. So for now it sits, waiting the moment that its creator finds a way to finish it. I'm sorry to leave you guys hanging but today is not that day.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Aftermath **

They all were frozen, unable to react to the words of the robot. Sure what he had said was shocking, but it was expected. Something they didn't _want_ to happen. But there wasn't any room to argue was there? What had been done was done and now all they had to do was cope with it. Of all the outcomes that they foresaw this one didn't quite come to the surface. They were happy no doubt, but confusion was definitely setting in.

The first of the three to speak was Slippy, "ROB, how did that even happen?"

Falco decided to speak up as well, "Yeah I saw where that shot hit him and that should not have happened."

The metal helper simply walked past the three before reaching over and connecting to one of the charger ports set amongst the ship, "The blaster round had shattered off a piece of his ribs and sent it into the mid-section of his spine. The shard had imbedded itself into a nerve that controlled all movement and feeling in the left arm. The shard was large enough to make simple repairs impossible so I made a decision that would best benefit Captain McCloud."

Krystal gazed over to the room where he was before turning back to the machine, "So you cut off his arm?"

ROB nodded before changing some functions on the wall panel, "Yes, and replaced it with a synthetic apparatus capable of sensation that he could feel from his normal arm. It also has all the same functions as his old arm but with an eight hundred percent increase in performance."

Falco was left scratching the back of his head, "So from now on he's just going to have a metal arm?"

After settling into the port and shutting off most of his functions ROB looked back to the rest of the team, "After Captain McCloud recovers fully from this I will cover the arm with synthetic skin and fur replicating a real arm. He has been told all of this and is waiting for you in the next room."

Slippy jumped out of his chair and ran over to the robot, "So instead of sitting out here and talking to you we could have been in there seeing if he was okay!?"

"Yes, he has been up for the last 26 minutes and was waiting for the rest of you," ROB didn't see the fault with his explanation.

Krystal patted the toad on his shoulder before turning towards the door, "It's okay Slippy. Think about how we would have reacted if ROB had not told us about his injury and just let us go in there and see it for ourselves."

Slippy's posture slumped down as if he had been defeated, "I guess, but I still think I need to reprogram his AI to have some form of sympathy drive in it."

Falco shook his head, "Slippy if you could find a way to do that then I don't think you'd need this job as a source of income."

The smaller amphibian just let out a groan before trudging over to the door where the vixen had been waiting, "Let's just go see Fox and then turn in for the night. Now that I know he'll be fine I just want to sleep. These last few hours have been an absolute nightmare."

Krystal entered the unlock code for the ships door but held off from opening it, "I know that from here on out is going to be difficult, but I want you guys to promise that no matter what we're not going to turn our backs on each other. That we're always going to be there for support."

Falco rolled his eyes, "You ought to be spending less time with Fox Krystal, you're starting to sound like him."

The vixen held strong, "You promise?"

The avian nodded, "That sounds a little bit more like you."

Krystal crossed her arms and gave the bird a little bit more of an aggressive look, "That wasn't really an answer Falco."

Falco huffed at the Vixens stubbornness, "Fine, I promise to never turn my back on any member of this team, Happy?"

The grin that the vixen had could only compare to that of their vulpine leader, "Quite, what about you?"

Slippy chuckled at the small back-and-forth banter that the two had just shared, "You won't get a smart ass comment out of me, I promise."

Krystal replaced her hand on the unlock button and took a deep breathe, already arguing with herself about what to say, _'what am I going to say? What do you even say to people that you care about when they almost die?'_

The other side of her mind decided to speak up, _'It's not like h__e's a different person. All you have to do is tell him that you are extremely happy that he's alive and that you thought you might never get to see him again.'_

She hit the button and braced herself for the worst, expecting to see the person she loved carved up like a jigsaw puzzle with his left arm replaced with a mechanical monstrosity. But she received much less than what she expected. In fact, she received nothing at all.

None of them did, the room lay empty. The only sign that someone had been there were the tussled sheets of the hospital style bed. They entered, each one taking a couple steps away from each other as if they thought their captain was hiding in a corner of the room waiting to jump out and shout surprise.

But he wasn't there. Surely ROB had not lied to them about all of this. And just as they started to question the robots motives the door to the bathroom opened and standing there clad in nothing but hospital pajama pants was Fox McCloud very much alive.

As he realized his teammates he couldn't helped but smile. He had no idea how much they had been worrying about him and just seeing them after everything that happened was exactly what he needed, "Hey, you guys all okay?"

"Are we okay? Are _you _okay?" The small toad practically bounced over to the vulpine, hell-bent on seeing the mechanical appendage for himself.

Fox shook his head as the amphibian grabbed ahold of his new left arm and turned it to-and-fro trying to take in all of its features, "I'm glad to see that you care so much about my arm Slippy, but can you leave it alone?"

Slippy took one last glance over the medical wonder before turning to one of the small chairs set off to the side of the bed, "Sorry Fox, with everything that has happened today I guess the good news has gone straight to my head." He emphasized his point by throwing his hands randomly in the air before resting back into the seat.

Falco nodded as he came up to his friend, "I gotta give this one to Slippy, today has been one hell of a workout. The past few hours have been fueled by nothing but adrenaline and after we heard you were gonna pull through it was as if everything that had happened finally caught up to us."

Fox sat down on the edge of the bed and started to rub behind his left shoulder where the new implant met his muscle tissue, "Yeah, today has been less than extraordinary."

Krystal sat down next to the vulpine, "I'm just glad you're okay." The vixen rested against the right side of Fox's body before letting off a small yawn.

After looking at his team Fox realized how much the day had actually weighed down on them, "I think you guys should all go get some well-deserved rest after what happened today."

The two males gave no argument as they left to their rooms leaving only the two foxes to themselves, "You should go get some rest Krystal, you need it."

The vixen gently ran her hand down his left arm, "Today I thought I was going to lose you."

Fox gave her a puzzled look not understanding what she had meant, so she continued, "When you passed out on your way to the medical wing I thought that was it, I thought I'd never get to be with you again. And even though you're okay I still don't want to leave you just yet."

As she finished the vixen started to doze off but was trying her hardest to fight it. Fox couldn't help but smile, she cared about him so much more then he realized.

He stood up, gently lifting her up in the process. As he carried her out of the room she finally let sleep come over her. He looked down at the vixen in his arms and realized that this was the person he was going to spend the rest of his life with. That no matter what happened to them as long as they could hold each other in their arms at the end of the day everything would be okay.

_**Not exactly the same as the first time I did this, but everything works out just the **__**same. So Fox has a mechanical arm now, so what? Little bit of a fun fact here, in the original Star Fox game all members of the team had both of their legs amputated so when they pulled high-G maneuverers the blood wouldn't rush from their heads to their legs causing a black out. Yet i**__**n all of the later games it seems as though they all have normal legs again. So that means they are so badass they grew their legs back. If you guys don't believe me look up a Youtube video by DYKGaming about Star Fox and you will see the proof. Anyways knowledge has been given and now everyone knows Fox will be okay, Later.**_


End file.
